Faith on Trial on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and on IowaCatholicRadio.com, examines the influence of law and society on Christianity and people of faith. "Like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Friday, April 28, 2017

TAMPA, FL -- Liberty Counsel sent a demand
letter to the Hillsborough County Public Schools regarding a teacher who
has prohibited Christian jewelry, is engaging in outrageous LGBT political
activism in her classroom, and punishes students who do not agree with her LGBT
propaganda.

Lora Jane Riedas, a math teacher at Riverview High
School, placed LGBT rainbow stickers on her students’ notebooks. Riedas’ classroom
décor blatantly promotes a pro-LGBT agenda. Riedas retweeted,
apparently during the school day, “favorite queer web series for kids” from
“huffpostqueer” stating: “Here’s how to talk to kids about what it means to be
an LGBTQ ally.” She
is part of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN)
Leadership Institute.

Riedas has prohibited at least three students from
wearing Christian cross necklaces in her classroom, claiming they are “gang
symbols.” One of the crosses, a tiny
crucifix worn by

Liberty Counsel’s ninth grade client, is less than one
inch long. Riedas demanded the student stop wearing her cross necklace and
singled her out for several false “misbehavior” allegations after the student
removed the LGBT rainbow sticker from her class notebook. Riedas’ lesbian
partner, who is also a teacher at Riverview, dressed as a nun
for school spirit week, complete with a “cross necklace” made of skulls. She
tweeted she has “a bad habit” and the point is to be “creepy.”

Riedas is promoting GLSEN’s “Day
of Silence” coercive political activities scheduled for tomorrow, Friday,
April 21, 2017. GLSEN’s
guide encourages teachers to require students ages K-12 to engage in numerous
forms of coercive, group political activism, disregarding the parents’ desires
or the students’ religious beliefs. Students can either “go along to get
along,” or risk being “outed” as disagreeing with the teacher and GLSEN’s
radical LGBT viewpoint. Some of the GLSEN coercion includes allowing students
“supportive” of “Day of Silence” to refrain from verbal participation in
classroom instruction, while those who do not participate in “Day of Silence”
must prepare to answer class questions. GLSEN encourages teachers to “print
out” LGBT propaganda and “have students read and silently write about what they
learned.”

“The bullying behavior of Lora Jane Riedas is outrageous
and unconstitutional,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty
Counsel. “A teacher cannot ban students from wearing cross necklaces when other
students are permitted to wear secular jewelry. Nor can teachers retaliate
against students who refuse to display rainbow stickers on their books to
promote an LGBT political agenda. The classroom is for learning, not promoting
the LGBT agenda,” said Staver.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit,
litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious
freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono
assistance and representation on these and related topics.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center (“TMLC”), a national public
interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, MI, announced that yesterday afternoon it
filed a Public Records Request with Bernards Township on behalf of Township
resident Cody Smith. Mr. Smith had written a scathing letter to the
Bernards Township Committee attacking “the stench” of secrecy surrounding the
scheduled special meeting which had quickly been called for late Friday, April
21st.

That meeting was subsequently cancelled because of the lack of proper
notice. Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of TMLC, observed,
“Based on the timing of the meeting late in the day on Friday, the meeting
agenda, and discovery that resolutions approving the settlements of both the
DOJ and the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge (Islamic Society) lawsuits had
already been filed with the Township clerk, it is probable that a decision had
already been secretly made and that the scheduled meeting was a mere
formality.”

TMLC represents several Bernards Township residents who were served with
intrusive and harassing subpoenas by Islamic Society attorneys. Their
only involvement was to make public comments at a public Township hearing. They
were non-parties to the lawsuit, had never had an official role in the Township
and had no authority to deny the Islamic Society’s permit request.
Nonetheless, the subpoenas demanded the production of emails, voice mails, text
messages, and social media posts concerning Muslims, Islam, or anything to do
with Muslim worship. The subpoenas clearly infringed upon their First
Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of association. The only
purpose of the subpoenas was to punish residents who dared to oppose the
Islamic Society’s request.

Thompson continued: “The Township Committee knows that its motivations
for disapproving the proposed zoning changes were completely proper and were
not animated by hatred for any person or group. Unfortunately, the
tactics of intimidation waged by the Islamic Society and the deep-state
Department of Justice attorneys, appointed by former Attorney General Eric
Holder to carry-out his left-wing agenda, may have taken their toll.

“We filed this open records request to obtain the settlement agreements that we
believe have already been tacitly agreed upon by the parties. In doing
so, we hope to shine a light on the dark tactics employed by the Islamic
Society, its attorneys, and deep-state attorneys within the Department of
Justice.”

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer involves
the inability of a Christian day care center to access state funds to purchase
scrap tires to resurface its playground. The state’s funds were distributed on
a competitive basis, but because the day care was run by a church, the state
denied funding. The case was argued before the U. S. Supreme Court last week.
This link will take you to Deacon Mike Manno’s analysis if this important
religious liberty case. It is published in this week's edition of The Wanderer. This case, and the Blaine Amendments, have been the subject of numerous conversations on Faith On Trial.

Monday, April 24, 2017

The Parents Television Council (PTC) reacted
with approval to the decision by the television network VH1 to cancel the
reality dating show “Dating Naked.” On the program strangers go on blind dates
completely nude. The network rated the program as being appropriate for
children.

Tuesday PTC program director Melissa Henson
will be joining Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll to discuss the dating program
as well as other television programming that is not suitable for children and
should be taken off the air such as the FOX program “The Mick” and others. The mission of PTC is to protect children and
families from graphic sex, violence and profanity in the media, because of
their proven long-term harmful effects, and Melissa will also discuss their campaigns
to clean up the broadcasting media including holding advertisers accountable.

We will also be in the midst of four Spring
Care-A-Thon. Iowa Catholic Radio is largely listener supported and any tax-free
pledge you can make this week will be greatly appreciated. Just click on the
Care-A-Thon link to be taken to the page where you can make a secure pledge.

There is also something new this week: Our
program has been extended from one-half hour to forty minutes. So if you are so
inclined, let us know what you’d like to see in the extra 10

minutes we’re going
to have each week.

Faith On Trial is on every Tuesday at 9 a.m.
on Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on
IowaCatholicRadio.com and is carried on our free downloadable app which you can
find at the app store. The program is rebroadcast at 9 p.m. and past programs
can be found on the FOT page on the station’s web site.

And remember, FOT is supported by our loyal
sponsors and underwriters: Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville,
Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway, West Des
Moines, 515-453-1055; Confluence Brewing Company – off the Bike Trail just
south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road where there is live entertainment
in the tap room every Thursday; and Robert Cota, Farm Bureau Financial
Services, 200 West 2nd Ave., Indianola, Iowa 50125, 515-961-4555 or
515-205-5642. Robert will be joining us for part of our program this week.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

A
victory for Free Speech! There is no denying it; Bill Donohue, President
and CEO of the Catholic League, is one of the fiercest defenders of the
Catholic Church on the planet. I’m sure most of you have seen him on
national TV, responding to controversial attacks made on the Church. So,
when he asked the Thomas More Law Center to defend him and the Catholic League
in a defamation lawsuit, without hesitation we agreed.

Beginning
in 2014, the case wound its way through both the state and federal
courts. Yesterday, the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Bill
Donohue and the Catholic League by affirming a lower court decision dismissing
the defamation lawsuit.

Responding to the decision, Erin Mersino, the Thomas More Law Center attorney
handling

Erin Mersino

the case, commented: “The three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit reached
the just result today. The lawsuit filed by Jon David Couzens lacked
legal merit and required dismissal of all claims. The Thomas More
Law Center exalts the court's decision both as a victory for free speech and as
a victory for our legal process that allows meritless and improper lawsuits to
be dismissed at the earliest possible time."

The plaintiff still has a right to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court, but
hopefully this decision ends the matter.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Sacramento, CA—Legislation now making its way
through the California Legislature could have the startling effect of
preventing pro-life schools, organizations, and even churches from practicing
what they preach.

AB 569 by Assembly member Gonzales-Fletcher (D-San Diego) claims that
reproductive choices—such as abortion—should be no concern of religious
employers. The sweeping legislation would therefore require
employers—with no listed exceptions—to drop all expectations that employees
respect the sanctity of life in their own lives. Thus, a Christian school
that teaches life begins at conception or a pro-life advocacy organization
would be expected under the new rules to ignore employee conduct that
contradicts those stated beliefs.

The Pacific Justice Institute – Center for Public Policy (PJI-CPP) is sending a
detailed opposition letter to legislators today. The
next key hearing for AB 569 is scheduled for Tuesday, April 25, in the
Assembly Judiciary Committee. PJI has also prepared an analysis of the bill in question-and-answer format and contact information for all committee members who are
expected to consider and vote on the bill. PJI-CPP strongly encourages
citizens, church leaders, schools, and pro-life advocates to begin making phone
calls to legislative offices in advance of next week’s hearing.

Brad Dacus, the president of PJI-CPP and frequent FOT guest, commented, “This
latest attempt by our Legislature to strangle voices of conscience is unjust
and unconstitutional. There is no true religious freedom without the
freedom to put faith into practice, both as an individual and as a religious
community.”

A bill that would deny needed therapy for
children who were sexually molested or had unwanted homosexual or transgender
psychological issues was derailed in the Colorado Legislature -- after
MassResistance Colorado and other groups gave strong, hard-hitting pro-family
testimony.

The failed Colorado bill, H17-1156, is
part of a big push by the radical LGBT lobby in state legislatures across the
country.

The bill would have denied parents the right to
seek licensed therapists to help their children deal with unwanted homosexual
and transgender issues. But it would have allowed children to receive therapy
that would provide “acceptance and support” for such behaviors. It would also
allow therapy to assist a child “undergoing gender transition.” (Text of bill.)

The bill had already passed the Colorado House
of Representatives by 38-26 on March 7, 2017. It had been sent to the Senate’s
State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee before going to the Senate
Floor. On March 22, 2017, the Committee conducted a public hearing on the bill,
to be followed by a vote on it by the Committee members.

At the hearing, dozens of seasoned LGBT
activists filled the hearing room and signed up to testify. It included the
usual anger, emotion, misinformation, junk science and hysteria against the
very idea of allowing children help in dealing with these issues. Parents were
portrayed as unqualified to decide for their own children because they might be
“heterosexist” or “heteronormative” – or just plain "bigoted" and
ignorant. All kinds of bizarre and unproven stories about how so-called
“conversion therapy” causes suicide and depression were offered as fact.

However, a handful of unflinching pro-family
people from MassResistance Colorado, Colorado Family
Action, and other groups, came and stepped up to the plate and told the
truth. They talked about how schools (in concert with radical groups) are making
horrible pornography available to kids to help make them addicted to these
thoughts. The pro-family testimony exposed the agenda of the LGBT movement,
which aims to take away parents’ constitutional rights to help their own
children. One woman testified about her own experience being sexually molested
as a 6-year-old, and how devastating it would be not to have professional help
dealing with the terrible feelings and desires that came from that.

Becket pushes back against
atheist group attacking motto “In God We Trust”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Becket urged a court today
to protect the national motto “In God We Trust” from an atheist attempt to
scrub “God” from all facets of public life. The national motto “In God We
Trust” is based on the national anthem and first appeared on U.S. currency in
1864, but atheist activist Dr. Michael Newdow is suing in two different courts
on behalf of a group of atheists to now have the words stripped from all U.S.
coins and bills.

Newdow argues that printing the motto on
money is a government establishment of religion

and puts a “burden” on
atheists’ “exercise of religion” – even though Newdow and the group of atheists
suing specifically reject all religion. Today, Becket filed a
friend-of-the-court brief at the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to defend the
motto.

“This is not Iran or Saudi Arabia,” said
Diana Verm, legal counsel at Becket. “No reasonable person would pick up a
penny, see the words ‘In God We Trust,’ and panic because we’ve become a
theocracy.”

This is Newdow’s latest in a long series of
attempts to have the national motto removed from coins. In 2014, his lawsuit in
the Second Circuit in New York was rejected outright after he claimed that “In
God We Trust” violated the Constitution's Establishment Clause, which prohibits
the government from establishing a state religion or favoring one religion over
another. In February, Becket filed a friend-of-the-court-brief defending the
national motto from yet another one of Dr. Newdow’s lawsuits in the Sixth
Circuit.

This time, Dr. Newdow is making both
arguments: that the national motto both violates the Establishment Clause and
“burdens his religious exercise.” In its brief, Becket explains that for the
Founders who wrote the First Amendment, an “establishment of religion” meant an
official state church with government funding, government control, and fusion
of church and state – and putting the national motto on our coins and bills is
none of those things.

“‘God’ is not a dirty word,” said Verm. “Dr.
Newdow has every right to hold his beliefs, but he doesn’t have the right to
impose them on the rest of us.”

Please pray for Anastasia Adams, who is being
starved to death at a Virginia nursing facility. Anastasia suffered a brain
injury in 2005 and is wheelchair bound, but able to speak and interact with her
family. Life Legal was contacted by her sister Yolanda, who has been caring for
Anastasia for over 12 years.

Several months ago, Anastasia developed a large blood clot while in INOVA
Hospital in Virginia. The hospital refused to treat her and ordered that
Anastasia be discharged. When Yolanda refused to move her sister out of INOVA,
the hospital took her took court and had their own guardians appointed to
handle Anastasia’s care. The guardians sent Anastasia to a nursing home, where
she suffered four injuries in two weeks, including a broken hip.

The guardians have refused to authorize treatment for Anastasia's
injuries. Instead, they placed her in hospice care at a Golden Living nursing
facility. The guardians obtained a court order prohibiting Yolanda from seeing
her sister.

Yolanda has just learned that the facility is trying to starve Anastasia to
death.

Here are two videos of Anastasia—one taken before she was admitted to the
hospital and one taken at the nursing facility last Saturday showing
Anastasia’s shocking decline:

"I miss my sister terribly,” said Yolanda Bell. “I can only imagine what
she is going through, she must think I have abandoned her. I have trouble
sleeping. I close my eyes and see her being beaten and abused. I hear her
crying out in pain begging me to help her."

The family is Catholic and Anastasia has communicated that she wants to live. Yesterday,
Yolanda tried to arrange for a priest to visit Anastasia, but the guardians
denied the visit.

“Tragically, we are seeing an exponential increase in cases where patients are
intentionally starved to death because someone has arbitrarily determined that
their lives no longer have value,” stated Alexandra Snyder, Executive Director
of the Life Legal Defense Foundation, and last week's guest on FOT. “Anastasia is targeted for death simply
because she is disabled. But she can speak, feel pain, and fully understand
what is happening to her. She is being tortured to death by health
professionals who have it in their capacity to provide care and
treatment.”

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center
(“TMLC”) has learned that the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge (“ISBR”), which
was trying to obtain zoning changes to build a mosque in Bernards Township, NJ,
has hidden from public view anti-Christian and anti-Semitic verses on its
website, as well as its connection to the Islamic Society of North America
(“ISNA”) — an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing
trial in America. ISNA is claimed by the Muslim Brotherhood as one of “our
organizations and . . . our friends.” According to internal documents seized by
the FBI, the Muslim Brotherhood’s strategy is to engage in a “grand Jihad in
eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within . . .”—one of the
stages of this civilization jihad is the building of mosques and Islamic
centers.

Plaintiffs ISBR and Mohammad Ali Chaudry sued
in March 2016, claiming that the denial of zoning changes to permit a mosque
violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) of
2000 and reflected community “religious and cultural animus against Muslims.”
Within a week of the ISBR lawsuit, the Justice Department launched its own
investigation and filed its own lawsuit.

While a visible link to the quotes below was
once contained on the ISBR website, ISBR has now taken the extraordinary step
of hiding the links from public view. Accordingly, the quotes cannot be found
through a simple internet search or a view of the public portion of ISBR’s
website, they can only be found by access to the direct links here:

The Thomas More Law Center, a national public
interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, MI entered the case solely to protect the
constitutional rights of several Bernards Township citizens who exercised their
fundamental right to publicly oppose proposed zoning changes.

These private citizens had no authority to
deny the zoning application; nor did they have any official role in the
Township. Nevertheless, they were served with burdensome and harassing
subpoenas which demanded: all their email addresses and social media accounts;
all personal documents including emails, voicemails, text messages, and social
media posts concerning Muslims, Islam, mosques, the Quran, Muslim worship or
prayer services, wudu, imams, burkas, hijabs, Sharia, jihad, or anything else
associated with or related to Muslims or Islam; any object inscribed with or
containing the words “Preserve Liberty Corner,” or anti-mosque signs, flyers,
banners, email messages, or pamphlets, distributed or otherwise existing at any
time within the Township. In addition, Department of Justice (“DOJ”) lawyers
began a new front of intimidation by directly contacting these private
citizens, asking them to come in for interviews concerning the mosque.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel
of the Thomas More Law Center, stated: “Under Attorney General Loretta Lynch,
the Justice Department, using politically driven DOJ attorneys, weaponized
itself against fundamental constitutional principles to intimidate American
citizens with whom they disagreed. Immediately after the San Bernardino
terrorist attack and just months before DOJ inserted itself into this case, Ms.
Lynch made the infamous statement chilling free speech: ‘…when we see the
potential for someone lifting that mantle of anti-Muslim rhetoric…. when we see
that we will take action.’ This is exactly what happened to the citizens of
Bernards Township. DOJ attorneys initiated a deep state inquisition, seeking to
bring citizens objecting to the mosque in for questioning.”

The Thomas More Law Center defends and
promotes America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and moral values. It supports a
strong national defense and an independent and sovereign United States of
America. The Law Center accomplishes its mission through litigation, education,
and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is
supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and
is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. You may reach the
Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit our website at
www.thomasmore.org.

Monday, April 17, 2017

Over the years we’ve reported on state and
local laws that have prevented Catholic Charities and other organizations from
providing adoption and foster care services because of legal requirements to
place children in households headed by two persons of the same sex. Responding
to these problems, Rep. Mike Kelly, R-PA, has introduced the Child Welfare
Provider Inclusion Act of 2017. It would protect the religious liberties of
child welfare service providers, including adoption and foster care agencies.

The Act would prohibit the federal government
and any state that receives certain federal funding from discriminating against
service providers on the basis that they provide child welfare services in a
manner consistent with their sincerely held religious beliefs or moral
convictions. The bill is opposed by several LBGT and liberal civil rights organizations
but is supported by the religious community, including the U. S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops (USCCB).

Joining the discussion Tuesday morning will
be Hillary Byrnes, Assistant General Counsel for the USCCB and now serves as
lead staff to the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, which the U.S.
bishops established in 2011 to address growing concerns over the erosion of
freedom of religion in America. Hillary also focuses on legal issues affecting
Catholic education in the U.S.

She graduated from the University of Notre
Dame Law School, cum laude, where she was an Article Editor of the Notre Dame
Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. She also served on Notre Dame Law
School’s Jessup International Law Moot Court Team, which competed in Aberdeen,
Scotland. Hillary is a member of the bar of New York, the District of Columbia,
and has been admitted to practice before several federal trial and appellate
courts, including the United States Supreme Court.

Faith On Trial airs every Tuesday at 9 a.m.
(Central) on Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streams on
IowaCatholicRadio.com. It can also be heard on our Iowa Catholic Radio app
which can be downloaded from the App Store. The program is rebroadcast Tuesdays
at 9 p.m. Podcasts of earlier programs can be found here.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Thomas More Society defends trio of those
attacked while speaking against abortion

WICHITA, KS – April 13 – The Wichita, Kansas,
abortion clinic once owned by the late abortionist George Tiller has been at
the center of several attacks against individuals speaking out for the sanctity
of human life. Most recently, abortion facility security guard Carl Swinney was
convicted of assaulting Jennifer McCoy after he brutally attacked her in front
of her terrified children outside the clinic. McCoy is the fourth person whose
rights have been assailed by abortionist Julie Burkhart or her staff outside
the South Wind Women’s Center. The Thomas More Society assisted McCoy in
securing Swinney’s prosecution, defended pro-life advocate Mark Gietzen and the
Kansas Coalition for Life, is currently defending David Schmidt, and is
representing Pastor Mark Holick in a federal court case against abortionist
Burkhart.

McCoy and Gietzen are members of the Kansas
Coalition for Life. For many years, they have joined other members in daily
vigils outside the abortion clinic. In an always-peaceful routine, they arrive
in the morning, stand holding signs or stand near signs placed on the ground,
and take all the signs with them when they leave eight hours later.

The latest round of conflicts began when clinic
owner Burkhart obtained a fraudulent protection order against Pastor Holick.
Pastor Holick fought the order for two years, at great personal cost, and
Burkhart was eventually forced to dismiss the invalid case. (Link to Federal Court in Favor of Pastor Holick).

In 2016, Burkhart convinced City of Wichita
authorities to come to her abortion facility, forcibly confiscate a large
number of pro-life signs, and press criminal charges against Mr. Gietzen.

In quick succession, Pastor Holick filed suit
in federal court against Burkhart to recover his losses from her baseless
protection order, Mrs. McCoy was attacked by Swinney, and Mr. Schmidt (who is
elderly and largely blind) was robbed by another South Wind security guard,
John Rayburn, who brazenly took his sign from him on the public right of way,
despite Schmidt’s obvious objection and physical resistance. On account of
Mr. Schmidt’s reasonable resistance to Rayburn’s thuggery, Rayburn then had Mr.
Schmidt charged with assault.

Niether Holick,
Gietzen, McCoy, nor Schmidt did anything illegal or even unreasonable. Rather,
they have suffered blatant abuse at the hands of abortionist Burkhart and those
assisting her. But under the representation of Thomas More Society attorney
Martin Cannon, Mrs. McCoy secured the prosecution and conviction of Swinney,
Mr. Gietzen was found not guilty, and the city was ordered to return the
coalition’s many signs. Cannon also joined with local attorney Don McKinney on
Pastor Holick’s federal court case, and the two have defeated a multicount
motion to dismiss by Burkhart’s legal team, so the case is now on its way to
trial. Cannon and local attorney Peter Orsi are currently preparing for Mr. Schmidt’s
jury trial, and fully expect to vindicate him of the baseless assault charge.

About the Thomas More Society: The Thomas More Society is a national
not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family,
and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago and Omaha, the Thomas More
Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono
legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States
Supreme Court. For more information, visit www.thomasmoresociety.org.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Becket, the leading religious liberty
law firm, launched its new website becketlaw.org, featuring a comprehensive database for every
case, issue and resource on religious liberty, displayed with bold images and
cutting-edge design. The launch coincides with its new brand: Becket –
Religious Liberty for All, to reintroduce Becket’s timeless mission to defend
religious liberty for all faiths and in all areas – from individual rights to
the public square – with a sleek, media-savvy look.

The interactive site can be viewed from all
platforms, with a streamlined design that makes for straightforward and
engaging access. New features include:

A new Track This Case feature allows you to stay up-to-date on
latest case developments.

Becket’s
top Supreme Court victories and other precedent-setting cases, such as the
Little Sisters of the Poor, Holt v. Hobbs, Hobby Lobby and Hosanna Tabor,
called by the Wall Street Journal “among the most important religious
liberty cases in a half century.”

Revamped resource databases such as HHS Information Central and RFRA Central, which each provide in-depth information and
infographics regarding all lawsuits against the Health & Human Services
mandate and all cases brought under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
(RFRA).

“As the go-to source for religious liberty,
Becket is proud to provide the same wealth of information but in a more
visually dynamic way, creating a more intuitive experience,” said Melinda Skea,
communications director of Becket. “Our legal work has always been cutting
edge, and now our website reflects the modern urgency and importance of our
mission to defend religious liberty for all.’”

In February Becket unveiled a bold, modern logo with refreshed colors and
updated its name to a shorthand and tagline: Becket – Religious Liberty for All.
The new brand serves to reintroduce its timeless mission to protect religious
freedom in a modern, media-savvy society.

Founded in 1994 by Kevin “Seamus” Hasson,
Becket is the premier non-profit, public-interest religious liberty law firm in
the U.S. and the only firm that protects the free expression of all religious
traditions. Becket is supported by charitable donations and has a 100
percent win-rate before the United States Supreme Court.

Monday, April 10, 2017

On this week’s FOT
we’re going to cover a couple of cases involving two women in their 30’s who
were placed in hospice care after suffering a temporary lack of oxygen to the
brain. One was starved for 10 days and the other for 34 days, yet only a few
weeks later both women were talking and walking however in each case there are
continuing issues dealing with their legal representatives who are either not
providing for proper care or not acting in the best interest of the client but
those who wanted to allow her to die.

In one case the woman
who had been placed in hospice care started moving her arms and legs and
attempted to get out of bed. Instead of providing medical care, the hospice
facility gave her morphine. A close friend of the woman called Life Legal Defense Foundation who began legal proceedings to assist her.

Joining Deacon Mike
Manno and Gina Noll to discuss these cases will be Alexandra Snyder, executive
director of Life Legal. FOT airs every Tuesday at 9 a.m. on Iowa Catholic
Radio, 1150 AM, 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com and
on our live app that you can download from the app store. On our website you
can also access podcasts of previous programs. The
program will re-air at 9 p.m.

And remember: Beginning with the Car-a-thon
the week of April 24, all Iowa Catholic Radio morning programs beginning at 9
a.m. will be extended from one-half hour to forty minutes! AND our new and
vastly improved web camera will be up and working when we move into our new, permanent
downtown studio in (hopefully) June.

Faith On Trial is
sponsored by your loyal sponsors and underwriters: Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola,
McConville, Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway,
West Des Moines, 515-453-1055; Confluence Brewing Company – off the Bike Trail
just south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road where there is live entertainment
in the tap room every Thursday; and Robert Cota, Farm Bureau FinancialServices, 200 West 2nd Ave., Indianola, Iowa 50125, 515-961-4555 or
515-205-5642.

Friday, April 7, 2017

(April
7, 2017 – Chicago, IL) As
Christians worldwide mark the death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, April 14, 2017, the Pro-Life Action
League leads Christians across America in A Way of the
Cross for Victims of Abortion, commemorating the deaths of
nearly 60 million children lost to abortion since its legalization in 1973.
Abortion facilities coast-to coast will be visited by somber crowds engaged in
prayer and meditation on this Christian holy day.

“No one is untouched by the crushing
guilt upon our society for allowing the deliberate destruction of our most
vulnerable brothers and sisters,” explained Eric Scheidler, executive director
of the Pro-Life Action League and national coordinator of the event. “Whether
we have actively supported so-called ‘reproductive rights’ or we’ve merely looked
the other way while these children’s lives are ended, their blood is on our
hands.”

“There are many things wrong in our
world today, but this intentional killing
of our young is among the most heinous. As Christians, we seek Christ’s
forgiveness for our sins. This sin of killing our own children is one
that our society must repent of. If we cannot protect the infant in the womb,
we will never truly be a civilized, compassionate people. As long as we
continue to discard unborn babies, all our efforts to help the poor, needy and
disenfranchised ring hollow.”

Scheidler noted his concern that the
political battles of the day over abortion can overshadow the injustice being
done to unborn children. “Abortion isn’t just a political issue or a moral question.
Children at the most fragile state of human life are actually dying by the
thousands every day. And every day, mothers who have chosen abortion suffer for
making that choice. On Good Friday, we will
remember all those touched by abortion, and offer our deepest prayers.”

Solemn Good Friday
prayer vigils will be held at abortion clinics across the country, many of them
affiliates of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion franchise. A
list of vigil locations nationwide is available here.

The Pro-Life Action League was
founded by Joe Scheidler in 1980 with the aim of saving babies from abortion
through direct action. Not content to await a political or judicial solution to
abortion, the League seeks to stop the killing of unborn children right now
through all available peaceful means, including public protest, sidewalk
counseling, education, youth outreach, and national leadership.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Settlement ensures students no longer have to
give up free speech to graduate

DES MOINES, Iowa – (Tuesday, April 4) Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys have settled a lawsuit with officials
at Iowa State University, bringing an end to unconstitutional policies at the
school which expressly warn that “engaging in First Amendment protected speech
activities” may be punished as “harassment.” On behalf of a student, ADF
attorneys challenged the policies, with which the university required students
to certify compliance before they could graduate.

“The First Amendment requires America’s public colleges and universities to
recognize the constitutionally protected freedoms of all students,” said ADF
Senior Counsel Casey Mattox, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom.
“We commend the university for agreeing to correct its policies so that
students no longer have to give up free speech in order to graduate.”

ADF attorneys filed suit against Iowa State officials in October of last year
and asked for a court order to strike down the unconstitutional policies and
halt their enforcement. University officials had confirmed that if student
Robert Dunn, who leads Iowa State’s Young Americans for Freedom student group,
or any other student declined to certify that he would comply with the
university’s policies, his graduation could be placed on “hold.”

The policies, which concerned student behavior and expression, specified that
they “may cover those activities which, although not severe, persistent, or
pervasive enough to meet the legal definition of harassment, are unacceptable…”
and explained that even “First Amendment protected speech activities” may
constitute harassment “depending on the circumstances,” including whether other
students believe the speech is not “legitimate,” not “necessary,” or lacks a
“constructive purpose.” Violation of the policies could result in expulsion.

“Today’s college students will be tomorrow’s legislators, judges,
commissioners, and voters,” Mattox explained. “That’s why it’s so important
that public universities model the First Amendment values they are supposed to
be teaching to students, and why it should disturb everyone when any university
or college communicates to a generation that the Constitution doesn’t matter.”

The settlement agreement reached with university officials in Dunn
v. Leath was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
Iowa, Central Division. Timm W. Reid of Des Moines is local counsel for Dunn
and one of nearly 3,200 attorneys allied with ADF.

While
the selling of baby parts is illegal the only criminal complaints filed in the
Planned Parenthood undercover video matter have been filed against the
undercover journalist to exposed PP’s sultry business of selling fetal parts.

David Daleiden’s
exposure of PP has caused uproar, none more vicious than that from PP itself.
Unable to deny what was plainly done, PP turned to its political supporters to
go after David Daleiden and none turned out to be a better friend than new
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a former congressman with a 100%
voting record supporting Planned Parenthood and who after received financial
support from PP decided to charge David with 15 felonies rather than to
investigate PP’s baby-parts business.

The
criminal charges were called a “witch hunt” by Alexandra Snyder, executive
director of Life Legal Defense Foundation and a former FOT guest herself.

Tuesday
Matthew Heffron of the Thomas More Society, one of David’s attorneys will join
Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll to discuss the “Daleiden affair” that is now
before the state courts in California.

So join
Deacon Mike and Gina at 9 a.m. on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5
FM and streaming on-line at IowaCatholicRadio.com and available on our
downloadable app for a lively discussion of this and other matters of interest
to people of faith. The program will be re-broadcast at 9 p.m. and podcasts of
previous programs can be found here. And don’t forget our new text line where
you can comment or ask questions during the program: 515-223-1150.

FOT is
on the air courtesy of our loyal sponsors and underwriters: Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville, Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC
2100 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, 515-453-1055; Confluence Brewing Company
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Faith on Trial is where we examine the influence of law and society on Christianity. Here we will look at those cases and events that impinge on the rights of Christians to fully practice their faith. Join us every Tuesday morning at 9 or listen to our re-broadcast Tuesday evening at 9 (Central). The program can be heard on IowaCatholic Radio: 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on iowacatholicradio.com. Host is Attorney and Deacon Mike Manno.